Christmas 2008

The evening started out (or I should say ended for the kids) with the traditional setting out of the Santa cookies. After evening prayers it was off to bed with the kids...and off to work for us! Like all good parents, Bruce and I were playing Santa's helpers. But our goal for the night was a little different than any year before.

Our first order of business was to set out and fill the stockings. You see this was key because the stockings were playing an integral part of the morning. The children went to bed thinking they would find their stockings hung by the foyer mantel with care. Little did they know their morning would start with Mom and Dad in their room.
We had some fun in store for the kids! We put a sheet up across the opening of the Living Room where the Christmas tree and presents were set up. We then corded off the stairs with a similar note for the kids to go wake Mom and Dad.
The Christmas morning plan was to open stockings in a cozy enviornment with everyone gathered near.

Alyssa (12) with her stocking loot

After opening our stocking gifts Santa wanted the us to go the kitchen for Hot Chocolate and Breakfast prep.

We enjoyed a cup of steaming Peppermint Hot Chocolate. Market research has indicated that Tennesse Spice Girls cocoa is better than Starbucks or Ghiradelli peppermint hot chocolate. (But we are not biased in the least!)

Austin (10) with his sprinkle resistant cocoa

Once the final drop of cocoa was consumed we followed the next step in our adventure.

The Bonus Room is were Santa left his goods for the Crow Family & Children. Santa was instrumental in completeing our "Bonus" room. He brought us a TV from Craigs List and a Wii game system. Grandparents were key in supplimenting the game system with controls and games. Thanks Mom & Dad Crow! You're the best!

The Bonus Room instructed us to play until the Missionaries arrived.....

The missionaries arrived just minutes before 7:00am! And the kids thought they would be bored waiting for them....little did the know!

Elder Carling, Elder Coronado, Elder Murff and Me

The time had arrived for the Tree to be revealed. We gathered in the foyer as Bruce took down the sheet. Mom did achieve a Christmas morning mircale. Many presents under the tree for the Crow family and the Missionaries.


One last note was left by Santa on the tree.
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We took a few moments before enjoying our gifts to read the about our Saviors birth.

Here are Andrew's thoughts on the day.

Post Christmas Mayhem.

Merry Christmas to all our friends and family,

Love, Jennifer

Kitchen Aid Mixer & Other Good Gifts

Monday marked the first day of Winter break. The kids were home from school, Bruce was home from work and I, well I was just plain home. Bruce is taking two weeks of vacation. Sort of a use it or lose it policy with Ernst & Young. So truely, the Crow family, will be enjoying a Family Winter Break!

Monday also marked the arrival of my early Christmas present....my long awaited Kitchen Aid Mixer! Nearly 15 years of waiting. The blessed mixer arrived on my door step by a man in blue and orange...the FedEx guy. Like a kid I anxiously open the box and pull out the shiny black Artisan mixer. I dreamed of the delicatable goodies soon to be whipped up. Chocolate Chip Cookies, Chocolate Sugar Cookies, Gingerbread and Molasses Cookies. Oh and bread. Think of the breads I could make!

I decide the inaugural batch will be chocolate chip cookies. It's American, it's traditional, it's what I want to make as gifts for our children's friends at church and it's a favorite.

Oh my...this is easy! Creaming the butter, sugar and eggs is a breeze. The flour and other powder ingredients blend in a snap. Even the chocolate chips are no match for this beast. The dough...oh the dough is so smooth and tasty. I'd say one of the best I'd ever made. Bruce was even seduced by it's charms and had a finger full or two.

After the cookies are snugly tucked into the oven I begin the clean up process. Putting all the ingredients away, placing the dirty measuring cups in the sink and wiping down the counter and my new mixer. "Look at this white powder all over my mixer!" I exclaim to no one in particular. "I should have known a black mixer would show all the flour dust. Oh well. I am so much happier with this black one than the standard white mixer. It's not as bland."

"Jennifer", Bruce chimes in, "If I were to describe you, bland would not be the word I used."

Not missing a beat Andrew said "No. Beautiful is the word I would use to describe you Mommy."

Wow. I thought my gift had arrived at the front door hours earlier. Apparently it had been sitting in my kitchen all along.

Ice Days and Cookies

It's 5:32 am and the official call just came in. No school....we have an ice day! I'm not sure one can be as excited about ice as one is about snow...but none the less, my kids will be thrilled. Me, well let's just say my time sensitive errands will have no wait. Namely sending out packages to friends and family. My apologies go out to those of you whose holidays may not be complete without my gifts. I really, really wanted to have this done on Friday but something came up...Saturday too. Sunday was a day of rest. Monday again something came up...something about school closing early? And today only maniacs and medics will be on the roads and since I believe myself neither I will be Home.

Home creating memories my children will carry with them their entire lives.

That was a line I heard on the radio several days ago that has been sinking into my psyche. It's what caused me to pull out the flour, sugar, vanilla, eggs, and chocolate chips yesterday when I heard school was letting out early. I imagined my eager boys bursting into the house full of expectant energy. School was out early and they needed something fun to do. One memory making experience coming right up.

We made giant chocolate chip cookies. You know the kind. The ones you find sitting oh so tempting at the sides of cash registers at places like Noodle & Co. and Pei Wei. The ones that kids beg for and parents secretly want. Well we made those.

Today our memory making adventure will be wrapping each cookie in cellophane, tying a ribbon around it's plump face and making a gift tag for each one. If the weather holds maybe we could bundle up and visit our neighbors with some early Christmas cheer.

What memories will you be making today?

Unexcused Absence Update

I think I hit upon something here with this post. I've had so many comments and suggestions. Thanks for the suggestion...I was told that any absence without a doctors note is considered unexcused. State Law. But that if I call the pediatricians office the day they are sick, they will fax a note over to the school. I imagine doctors offices around the state have to employe an additional person just to handle the volume of absence notes! Thank heavens I have taken the kids to the doctor several times before this incident. At least I have a track record with an office willing to write an excuse a week after the illness and for multiple days. We're in the clear now. I can keep my kids...

5th Grade Biome Report

I just have to share an exerpt from my sons report. He had to write a brief synopsis of each Biome type. Here is what he had to say about Grasslands.

"Grasslands are home to many small rodents such as field mice and prairie dogs. Hawks are usually bigger here because animals such as the field mice and prairie dogs are its diet." - Austin Crow, age 10.

Hope it's as funny at 10:30am as it is at 10:30pm.

Unexcused Absence

Last week my boys were home from school several days sick. In particular Andrew was out 4 of the 5 days of school. He was home Monday Tuesday, went in Wednesday, played with a kid who threw up and then was home again Thursday Friday.

Last night I got a note from the school stating they had scheduled a meeting for me to meet with the school board because my kid has too many unexcused absences.

I don't know...maybe I'm a maverick but I don't send sick kids to school!

Does the school board really want to rummage in my house, send over a social worker, threaten to take away my kids because I don't send them to school when they are sick? I am outraged! I want to go to that meeting and say "what do you think you are doing? Check out my well adjusted kids, see the attendance of my other children, check out their test scores....aren't you the same people who told me my kids scored the highest in the school? Doesn't my Andrew have straight A's? What do you think a social worker can find by coming to my home? Find I am an unfit parent for keeping a sick child home?"

I want to rant, I want to rave but my older and wiser husband interjects....."Do you think you could call the pediatrician and explain the situation and see if she will give you a note? I really don't want to mess with the authorities who have a right to take away our children."

Can you believe that in America a state will threaten to take your children because you believe the spread of germs is generally a bad thing? I suppose that is why Andrew's friend who threw up on Wednesday was sent to school. His mother would rather hang onto her own kids and make sure she can raise them herself then to be threatened by the state because of an unexcused absence. So what if other kids become infected?

This morning Alyssa was not feeling well. Stomach ache. Her Dad encouraged her to go to school....An hour later we receive a call from the school nurse. Your daughter is not feeling well, please pick her up. I cut my errands short and head to the middle school. I'm admonished by the nurse to not send sick kids to school..."please keep the germs out of this building." These are words that actually spilled from her mouth! My jaw drops and my mind reels at the hypocrisy of it all. Someone other than the parent has the authority to say "Yes, your child is sick. Please take her home."

At least this will not be an unexcused absence.

Fast & Testimony Meeting

This is a post I pilfered off of my husbands blog Amateur Mormon Historian....Enjoy!

Sunday found us in an traditional Mormon Fast & Testimony meeting. You know the kind. Adults taking about their last vacation, and primary children repeating the words whispered in their ear by Mom. Scattered throughout the meeting was the occasional testimony of the Savior or of the restored gospel and later a conversion story.

But today was a little different, for me at least. All three of my children, ages 12, 10 and 6, decided to get up and share their testimony. Now this was without prompting from me. The only one who had done this before was my 10 year old and I think he was bribed by his Sunday School teacher. But I don't believe in manipulating my kids to share their testimony.

The youngest wanted help from Mom. They walked up together and she stood by while he said "I know the church is true and I love my family. I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet. .....(Mom, what do I say next?) In Jesus' name, Amen."

About 10 minutes later, my 12 year old daughter got up. Standing there in her pink sweater and her hair pulled back in a pony tail, my sweet demure little girl said "My brothers and I fight a lot, sometimes they annoy me so much I just want to rip their heads off. But during the holidays I get a little more tolerant and I feel like I love them so much I want to squeeze them until they burst! And I know it is Jesus who helps me feel this way."

The 10 year old son wanted to get up and share his testimony so he asked his Mom for some time to think about what to say. "You only have five more minutes until the meeting is over" she told him "just say what is in your heart." So up to the stand he went. He started "My sister and I do fight a lot, but less at Christmas because we are usually visiting someone or they are visiting us so there are usually more adults than children or its even, so its easier to handle. Maybe I should go outside and play so I don't annoy her when I play my Gameboy when she is doing her homework." After which he started to leave but after being halfway down the steps realized he didn't properly end his testimony. So he ran back and said "Amen" and then sat down.

I think I know what to do for tomorrow's Family Home Evening.

Post Thanksgiving Confessions

It goes without saying, people love Christmas and they love Christmas music. I am no different, really. I just like to start my Christmas in December if possible. Thanksgiving is actually a great holiday on it's own and I love to savor that day. This year because Turkey day was so near the end of the month and I was playing host to my churches Relief Society Christmas Party, December 4th, I started my holiday decorating the day after Thanksgiving. I know....that sounds like a confession.

Hello, my name is Jennifer, and I decorated the day after Thanksgiving.

Guess what? I liked it! The garlands rolling down the stairs, the accent of greenery at the entrance to the living and dining rooms. The lighted wreaths with their cheerful red sparkly ribbons hung at each window, the Tree. I love the gentle glow the holiday lights give my foyer at night. I love that when I come home at night the oak tree in my front yard is lit up, directing me safely back to my home, my family. I love the Nativity sitting front and center in my family room. And I love the Music.

Beautiful sweeping melodies about our Savior, Jesus Christ. Pianos, violins and harps blending together with voices so pure tears come easily to ones eyes. And that's just some of the music! There's the get out and dance and the sing with the kids songs too.

My favorite versions of O Holy Night have been posted as a play list here. Last night as I was selecting the arrangements I liked best my daughter came into the office and asked me to turn up the volume. She too wanted to enjoy the sweet sounds of Christmas. I hope that you enjoy these selections for the few minutes your here and through out your Christmas celebrations. I know at least two people in my house that will.


O Holy Night, the stars are brightly shining, it is the night of our dear Saviors birth!
Long lay the world in Sin and Error pining til' he appeared and the Soul felt it's worth.
A thrill of Hope the weary world rejoices for yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.

Fall on your knees, Oh hear the Angel voices, O night Divine, O night when Christ was born.

Truly He taught us to love one another, His law is Love and His gospel is Peace.
Chains shall He break for the slave is our Brother, and in His name all oppression shall cease.
Sweet hymns of Joy in Grateful chorus raise we, let all within Us praise His Holy name.

Toothache

Toothache....That's what I have. It settled on me Friday night while sleeping. I rubbed my gums and cried like a kid hoping that someone (Bruce, preferably) would come to my rescue and care for me. But I'm the Mom so I had to drag myself out of bed to fetch my own pain killing drugs.

I cheerfully faked my way through my Saturday craft show peddling Gourmet Hot Chocolate and Dip Mixes. Behind every "Have a Merry Christmas" was a reminder of my throbbing tooth.

Sunday, my day of rest, I opted out of church to nurse my aching jaw. "Thank heavens I can call the dentist tomorrow for some relief" where my constant thoughts.

Monday AM I am told the Doctor can not see me until Tuesday. I'm not sure if I can mentally take another day of aching pain. I have places to go and things to do...pain free of coarse. Heck it was only 24 days until Christmas. Not much time for a Mom of 3 to accomplish a Christmas morning miracle! I need to get this fixed! Add another bottle of Advil to the shopping list.

Tuesday the blessed day has arrived. Nervously I enter the dental office in little White House, TN pop. 7000, expecting to see an old fashioned dental office (or a the very least outdated). Thankfully I was pleasantly surprised by the modern, up to date office, friendly staff and technologically savvy dental equipment. Digital x-rays were taken and the verdict was announced....a root canal. "How does Wednesday look for you?" the dentist asked. "Seriously, another day of this pain?" I thought to myself. "How are you with Percocet?" I hear from Dr. Jones. Maybe I can handle another day.

Wednesday I dress comfortably for my long awaited root canal. I even pad into the office wearing my slippers! The goal is as little discomfort as possible. The dental assistant administers the gas and I drift off to la la land for a couple of hours while the decaying roots of my throbbing molar are drilled away.

It's a full week later and although I no longer have excruciating pain in my upper jaw, I still can not use the left side of my mouth to chew.